The Invincible Bodyguard Starting by Escorting the Doomsday Imperial Princess Chapter 84 : Chapter 84

Chapter 84: You’re Going to... Set a Fire?

“Hm?!”

Luo Li froze. The span of this task... seed rather long, didn’t it?

Before this, the tasks had all been little chores that could be finished in passing. But now she was suddenly being dragged over here to work as a hired hand for an entire day?

Still, she rembered Chen Guan’s instructions. She did not refuse and simply nodded.

“That’s wonderful!” The granary official’s face lit up with delight, and he imdiately instructed her, “You just need to keep watch around here, especially... be careful of those rats that co to steal food! You absolutely mustn’t let them ruin the grain!”

Luo Li’s heart clenched violently!

This was no longer a matter of rely “keeping watch.” The key part was “preventing the rats from ruining the grain.”

The mont any grain was ruined by rats, it would an she had failed to satisfy the rules of Ten Thousand Deaths, No Retreat.

That ant imdiate failure of the task, and the consequence of failure... would be her direct erasure by the rules!

Before she could fully tense up, Chen Guan spoke first.

“Rest assured, Officer. My little sister has sharp eyes. She definitely won’t let a single rat ruin this grain.”

The granary official looked at Chen Guan again, paused for a few seconds once more, then nodded.

“Mhm, I can tell. This young lady looks clever and capable.”

After that, Chen Guan led Luo Li through the passageways ford by one granary after another.

Only after confirming that the granary official had gone far away did Luo Li lower her voice and ask nervously,

“Brother Chen, granaries are usually where rats gather the most. My task... it won’t fail, will it?”

“Relax. It won’t fail.” Chen Guan’s reply was crisp and decisive.

Only after hearing that did Luo Li feel the tension in her heart loosen a little.

Suddenly, she noticed that Chen Guan ahead of her had stopped walking.

Turning back, Luo Li asked curiously, “Brother Chen, aren’t we going to patrol around?”

“No need.”

Chen Guan shook his head. With a reverse motion of his hand, he pulled the ancient Horse-Cleaving Saber from his back and, with a sharp clang, drove it directly into the bluestone ground between two granaries!

The blade sank three inches into the stone, as steady as a mountain.

Then, taking the stunned Luo Li with him, he turned and walked out of the granaries.

He led her out of the town and back beneath that solitary gate tower, facing the sunset.

They waited for about Half a Ke.

Then, when another round of “Yin” descended, he pulled Luo Li along and entered the town again.

Ti inside the town was frozen, forever lingering at dusk. There was no morning here, and no night.

But the span of labor that counted as one “day” within it was no different from the outside world.

And as long as one stood outside the gate tower, stared at that strange little lotus pond, and waited for Half a Ke, it was equivalent to a full day passing inside the town.

That was also why, every ti he ca out, he would stare at the little lotus pond and that blood-red sunset.

As if he had walked the place a thousand tis, Chen Guan led Luo Li back to the eastern granaries of the town.

He swept his gaze around, saw no sign of the granary official, and walked straight to the Horse-Cleaving Saber, pulled it free, and slung it once more across his back.

After that, he sat himself grandly on the wooden ladder outside the granary and closed his eyes to rest.

It was not long before the sa granary official from the day before ca jogging over from the distance.

The mont he saw Luo Li sitting on the wooden ladder, he walked over with a smile.

“Young lady! Thank you so much! The matters at my ho are finally settled!”

“You’re too polite, Officer.” Chen Guan answered on Luo Li’s behalf, cupping his fists.

The granary official stalled again as if his thoughts had jamd, and only then did his eyes return to Luo Li as he said sowhat awkwardly, “Young lady, it’s the autumn harvest, after all.”

“Every year around this ti, we open the granaries and air out all the grain inside to remove the dampness. So... would you help with one more thing?”

Without the slightest hesitation, Luo Li nodded. “All right.”

The granary official imdiately looked delighted. “That’s wonderful! Thank you so much, young lady!”

“Young lady, I could tell at a glance that you’re a hardworking and kind child!”

Then he added another instruction. “Right—this ti, when airing the grain, you must dry it thoroughly. Otherwise, if it stays damp, it’ll mold easily!”

Luo Li froze.

Dry it thoroughly?!

That was no simple matter at all!

The grain piled up in the granaries was like a mountain. If she spread it all out to dry, forget one day—even ten days or half a month might not be enough to handle it!

And besides, the world here was forever locked in sunset. There was not even a proper sun to dry it beneath.

Yet under the rules of Ten Thousand Deaths, No Retreat, she could not refuse. Even if it cost ten thousand lives, the task still had to be completed.

Chen Guan, anwhile, was inwardly delighted. He imdiately picked up the thread and asked in a loud voice, “Officer, you an that as long as all the moisture is removed from the grain, then that will be enough, correct?”

The granary official jerked again at the sound of Chen Guan’s voice, like so old machine receiving a bad signal. After stalling for a mont, he smiled and nodded.

“Yes, yes, yes! Exactly! There can’t be even a trace of moisture left! Otherwise it’ll mold, and if people eat it, lives could be lost!”

Chen Guan slapped his chest in assurance.

“Rest easy, Officer! My little sister’s greatest skill in this life is dealing with things like this! Removing a little moisture is nothing at all. She’ll definitely dry every last bit of moisture out of this grain for you!”

The granary official stalled once more, then nodded repeatedly. “Yes, yes! Dry it out! Just dry it out and it’ll be fine!”

The mont the granary official left, the crooked smile at the corner of Chen Guan’s lips—half roguish, half wicked—could no longer be suppressed.

The instant Luo Li saw that expression, she knew the most critical mont had co. She quickly moved closer and lowered her voice.

“Brother Chen, can we get out now?”

“Mhm.” Chen Guan nodded, then jerked his chin to the side and instructed, “Go gather so firewood. We’re going to roast the moisture out of this grain!”

“Ah???” Luo Li froze on the spot. “You’re going to... set a fire?”

At that mont, she suddenly understood.

As long as people lived, they could not do without food. And what these strange-tale rules had evolved into was an entire world.

If all the food in this town was destroyed, the rules would collapse on their own.

…

anwhile, on the other side, inside Wanci Temple, the old man who had been sitting there like a stone carving with his eyes closed began to lose the calm composure on his face, which was gradually replaced by a heavy frown of confusion.

“Sothing’s wrong!”

“Why didn’t they enter Yang and use blood to establish human law, just as we expected?”

Although he could attach himself to the uncanny thing, he had never fully mastered it. He himself was only a vessel-fiend within the rules of this uncanny domain.

By his senses, an entire shichen had already passed.

Yet after entering and leaving “Yang” twice, those two people had gone completely still, as though they had vanished into thin air.

“This is bad! They’ve discovered the loophole in Yin!”

Elder Ci’s heart sank sharply.

“What happened?”

Seeing his face change dramatically, Zhang Wen imdiately asked in a heavy voice.

“I...” Elder Ci forcibly swallowed the words that had risen to his mouth.

Then he steadied himself by force and denied it outright. “No... impossible!”

“The tasks of Yin must be completed. Why would they run there to seek death?”

But the instant that thought passed through his mind—.“Pfft—!”

A mouthful of black, foul-slling blood burst from his lips!

Just as those filthy droplets were about to splatter onto Zhang Wen’s face, Zhang Wen reacted with astonishing speed. His folding fan snapped open with a swish and barely blocked the blood in ti.

Then he turned, stunned, to look at Elder Ci, whose aura had withered in an instant.

“Elder Ci! What exactly is going on? How could you have suffered backlash from the rules?!”

“Quick—quick! They’ve found the loophole in Ten Thousand Deaths, No Retreat! Help suppress the rules!”

Elder Ci could no longer be bothered to conceal anything and shouted in panicked terror.

He had parasitized this uncanny thing. Once the rules were broken, he, this vessel-fiend, would also crumble into smoke and vanish!